Mei and Mei's Historic Meeting (Continued)

"Hey Rita, did you forget to wear your leg rings today?"

"Oh dear... do you really like that thing? Please wait a moment..."

What do you mean by liking something?

Rita, that shameless woman!

Mei, who was eavesdropping by the door, silently gripped the katana in her hand.

Why is that woman Rita hanging out with Brother Liu Bai?!

And the tone of their conversation was like that of an old married couple?

Brother Liu Bai, you need to act even more surprised by that woman's date invitation!

Even if you're not surprised, at least show some coy reluctance, okay?

Why did you agree without any hesitation?

This is bad, isn't it?

This is very bad, isn't it?

Sister Edison! Come help! Brother Liu Bai is about to be kidnapped!

And Brother Liu Bai, don't just casually chat with that guy about things like black stockings and leg rings!

Don't you think this is inappropriate?

And Rita! Don't you have even the slightest bit of feminine modesty? How could you be so submissive to Brother Liu Bai?

Today Brother Liu Bai can make you put on leg rings, tomorrow he can make you take them off, and the day after tomorrow I don't even dare to think about what he'll make you do!

As a maid of Schicksal and S-Rank Valkyrie, don't you even have this much sense of security?!

Envy, jealousy, gnashing my teeth... Why am I not the one in there? I feel like I'm an old married couple with Brother Liu Bai...

No, no, no, it's more like "I'm so disappointed in her." A woman like Rita, who has no sense of safety, is bound to have a major accident sooner or later!

Mei's knuckles, gripping the Mei, gradually turned white as she forced a smile.

Calm down... calm down... it's nothing...

But... what should we do next?

Rushing in to catch them in the act?

No, no, no, what I'm doing right now is completely inappropriate, isn't it?

After all, she is currently primarily known as the "younger sister".

Damn it... I almost managed to get rid of the "younger sister" label back then, it's all Dad's fault...

Besides, he already had a grudge against Rita, so this situation was just too awkward.

So, should we retreat?

If they retreat like this, Mei will feel like she has "lost". Isn't this surrendering before the battle even begins?

Caught in a dilemma, Mei momentarily forgot to be wary of the outside world.

Knock knock.

"Rita, this child is probably looking for you."

Mei knocked on the door symbolically, then pushed it open and pulled Mei, who was struggling with her thoughts, over to her.

"... Huh?" Mei was completely taken aback when she was tugged.

"You're welcome, Mei."

Mei looked at the woman who resembled her ninety percent expressionlessly, pushed up her glasses, and then a somewhat ambiguous smile appeared on her lips—the remaining ten percent was because the other woman was a little more mature than herself.

"... Raiden Mei?"

Rita, who had just put on the leg rings, looked at Mei, and was actually a little taken aback.

After all, the other party's appearance was too sudden, and since it was Mei who pushed them out, the two Mei together brought Rita an additional sense of surprise.

"Good morning, Brother Liu Bai."

Although Mei couldn't see Liu Bai right now, out of disdain (or jealousy) towards Rita, she completely ignored Rita and awkwardly greeted the unseen Liu Bai.

"... Yes, good morning, Mei."

To be honest, Liu Bai's sense of astonishment at this moment was no less than Rita's.

The sight of Mei and Mei standing together is quite peculiar...

"Good morning, Mei." However, Rita was the first to react.

Rita noticed Mei's way of addressing Liu Bai first.

Elder brother?

Is she trying to use her "younger sister" identity to get closer to Liu Bai?

That's a great idea... It's a pity Mei met herself.

A smile appeared on Rita's face.

She was on the righteous path of "lovers," which, though more difficult, allowed her to completely suppress Mei at this moment.

—She exudes a sense of pressure as a future sister-in-law while posing as a friend.

This is the advantage that comes from the way you interact with someone.

Taking shortcuts and relying on tricks will eventually come at a price...

To be honest, if Mei and Fu Hua weren't so old, Rita would have liked to try and put down both of them.

"Who's your sister...?"

Although somewhat surprised by the woman beside him who looked almost exactly like him, his immediate priority was to find a way to overpower Rita.

After all, this attitude, which was like that of a sister-in-law, really made Mei unhappy and disgusted.

However, after this whole incident, the two unexpectedly skipped the "tense confrontation" phase.

"Since you call Liu Bai brother,' then you are naturally my sister," Rita said with a polite smile. "Besides, I am indeed a little older than you, aren't I?"

Rita is two years older than Mei, so if we don't consider external factors, it wouldn't be a big problem for Mei to call Rita" older sister".

However... we must discuss external factors.

"Miss Rita, are we that familiar?"

In other words, it's not good to say this in front of Liu Bai. For Mei, memories related to Rita are never good.

Rita wants to take advantage now? Don't even think about it!

But Rita is not the type of person who would be easily provoked into losing her composure by a few words.

"It's okay. The bond between sisters can be cultivated over time. Perhaps there was some misunderstanding between us before, but we can resolve it through sincere communication."

Rita answered with a perfectly calculated smile.

"Oh, right, speaking of which, a long time ago, your brother wanted to learn from me the technique of putting a tracker on someone's inner thigh."

"... How do you remember this so clearly?" Liu Bai asked, slightly embarrassed.

A long time ago?

Actually, it wasn't long. It was the time when Rita first came to Sky Dome City and dismantled the Gray Serpent. If you calculate the time carefully, it seems to be less than half a month.

However, the progress of their relationship seemed as if a long time had passed.

"Place it on your thigh... inside?"

Mei wasn't forgetful; she immediately remembered the incident and blushed.

"No, that's not the point."

Liu Bai steered the conversation back on track, "How about Mei, why are you here?"

"Because we need to find Kiana," Mei sighed. "She's a bit of a nuisance, and we've been classmates for over two years. We can't just leave her alone."

"Is that so? Miss Kiana has gone out for breakfast. Mei can go out and look for her now."

"I'm sorry, Ms. Rita, I don't think our relationship is really that good."

In front of Liu Bai, Mei tried hard to suppress the urge to slap the maid with the fake smile in front of her.

This feeling of being overshadowed is absolutely awful!

"Besides, since you said that, it means Kiana is alright, right? I believe that Liu Bai is better at taking care of people than I am."

Want to transfer me? Don't even think about it!

After stating her position, Mei finally turned to look at the culprit who had caused things to turn out this way, the woman in front of her who looked almost exactly like her.

"Um... may I ask who you are...?"

To be honest, Mei had a moment of doubt that the woman in front of her was her father's illegitimate daughter.

However, Mei quickly dismissed this unrealistic idea. After all, the two of them looked so alike that it wouldn't be surprising if they were twins, and besides, her father wasn't the type to go out and mess around.

Therefore, the identity of the woman in front of us is quite subtle.

"Me? I am Raiden Mei clone type 119. Good morning, original body."

"Huh—? Wh-what?"

The words that came out of the other person's mouth were so surprising that Mei couldn't help but take two steps back.

"A clone? Or Type 119? Is this some kind of secret research by Schicksal?"

Mei subconsciously believed it—after all, apart from the impossible option of her father having affairs, this seemed to be the most likely scenario.

"Yes, the Raiden Mei Legion Project, one of Schicksal's secret projects."

Mei was talking nonsense to Mei.

"The purpose of this plan is to achieve mental control over Kiana and then reclaim her by cloning various Raiden Mei."

"... This makes one wonder if Bishop Otto's brain got caught in a door."

"Alright, Mei, do you feel a sense of accomplishment from fooling another version of yourself?" Liu Bai said, somewhat amused and exasperated by the scene.

"Although I don't know what Dr. Mei thinks, I still find it very interesting."

Rita looked at Mei, who had been Mei into this trap, with a smile on her lips.

"Of course, it cannot be denied that sometimes His Excellency the Bishop does do things that seem like he's got his head caught in a door."

"..."

Mei wasn't stupid. Hearing the two of them singing in unison, she immediately realized she had been tricked. She looked at the woman in front of her, who was practically another version of herself, with a hint of anger.

"I'm so sorry."

A genuine smile appeared on Mei's face.

"Because I saw the existence of 'my own not-so-good brain' that I had only ever imagined before, I became a little playful."

"... I'm really sorry I'm not good at thinking," Mei said irritably—that's the tone anyone would use if they were told they weren't good at thinking.

What's more, this guy in front of us is the very person who caused things to turn out this way.

"No, I'm not trying to belittle you, it's just an objective evaluation—and for me, seeing myself in action is a kind of subtle but touching experience."

Mei smiled and pushed up her glasses.

"For example, 'Oh, I didn't know I had this possibility'—of course, although I say that, in my opinion, we are actually two completely unrelated people except for our appearances. Let me introduce myself, my name is Mei, a scientist."

"... Raiden Mei, Valkyrie."

Although she still didn't quite understand what the other person was saying, Mei accepted their kindness.

... Perhaps, as the other party said, "not being very bright" is just an objective assessment?

This was the first time Mei, who had been an excellent student for twenty years, had been described in this way.

The two shook hands.

"Oh, by the way, the reason I look like you is because I am 'Mei' from the previous civilization, which is 50,000 years ago to you—actually, if you look at it that way, you should look like me."